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An “outstanding” cardiac nurse who died suddenly when she was six months pregnant gave birth to her daughter when quick-thinking paramedics performed an emergency cesarean on her dead body.

Emma Olubayo, 41, who could not wait to become a mother, collapsed at home after an undetected heart defect caused her heart to stop.

Paramedics spent an hour battling to save her but when their efforts failed they turned their attentions to her unborn child, delivering her on the living room floor at the family home in Coalville, Leicestershire, just moments after her mother’s death.

Emmanuel Olubayo, 34, who had been watching television with his wife that Sunday afternoon, found himself a widow and a father all at the same time.

"It was a surreal moment, our baby laid on the sofa behind me whilst the love of my life was dying on the living room floor,” he said.

Mr Olubayo called their daughter, who was ten weeks premature, Aretha, and endured an agonising six weeks at her hospital bedside, willing her to pull through whilst also grieving for his wife.

Julie Smith, chief nurse at Leicester’s Hospitals said: “Emma was a hugely popular and valued member of our team. She was always smiling, energetic, positive and completely dedicated to her role as a nurse.

“We were shocked and saddened at the sudden loss of a much loved colleague and our thoughts remain with her family.”